yourowndemocracy is a concept project that proposes a real-time voter sentiment feedback-loop platform merging social networking, direct political engagement, and the design of electronic market exchanges to create a modern online platform for participatory democracy.
2008 Buckminster Fuller Institute Challenge Submission
Original GONGBLOG post about YOD with comments
Me and Waylon at home
The amazing Cusp Conference in Chicago used YOD graphics for signage and program books. Awesome.
Me and Willow at the Children's Museum in Seattle in the Vietnam exhibit.
A precious locket that I wear sometimes of my beautiful dogs Juliette and Annie, who passed away in 2007 and 2008. I really miss them.
Willow on our family holiday on gorgeous Long Beach on Vancouver Island near Tofino. Here's a video that will calm your stressed-out souls waaaay down: "Zen and the Art of Slowness".
Standing in front of The Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger's office at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.
Willow at Yoberri Park in Santa Fe where we often share a frozen yogurt treat together.
Bonnie and Willow on the carousel at the Pumpkin Festival at the Santa Fe Horse Park.
Me at the Smithosonian National Air & Space Museum in Washington DC, paying homage to Paul MacCready's human-powered Gossamer Condor that won the Kremer Prize in 1977. I was only 10 years old at the time, but it left a powerful life-long impression on me, about the ingenious things you can do with very, very little. Look up close, it's just Saran Wrap, PVC pipe, and a helluva lot of clear tape. May Dr. MacCready, one of my greatest heroes of all time, rest in peace. (And, to boot, MacCready's company AeroVironment (NASD: AVAV) is one of the best performing stocks in my portfolio. Black-sheep thinkers rule.)
Mar 28, 2008 at 09:46AM 3 Comments According to this, I am much more British than American. No surprise.
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Reader Comments (3)
You arent British, you are sane
I am startled to find how mainstream I am. More so, when I read your “about me ... ” and I realized that on top of mainstream, I am—all right, not old—but aging. As if that is significantly different.
The thing about no longer being—let’s say—young, is that I am starting to look for rapid answers. To all that ails us as a country, a race (the human), and a world. This may be in recognition of the fact that there is likely more behind than ahead, tho’ in my case not much less ahead, I believe.
The aging, tired, mainstreamer that I am wants to say that all can be solved by the free distribution of all information and knowledge. Consumerism, not so much, tho' I still like stuff. Conveniently, making books allows me to feel a part of the solution, rather than the problem.
I think I will add you to my blogroll so that I remember to read you regularly. Please feel free to take a gander at my blog.
For the record—in re: your top-left survey question—I can’t get my mind around no beginning. No end is fine. But there had to be something to kick it all off, right?
stephen,
i think it's natural to become more reflective as you age (it is the case for me). i, too, like stuff. there's a lot of "good stuff" out there to consume, and sometimes it's even life-enhancing. but "stuff" will never replace real human experience. think of two broad categories of things: tools and toys. we need tools to perform the tasks of living, we desire toys to mitigate the stresses of life's realities. both are valid. the degree to which we respectively consume them is an individual thing, and much can be ascertained about where one is in life by the tools and toys he/she posseses.
i have recently experienced great personal loss, and what am i doing other than grieving? shopping online. there you have it.
thanks for writing. and i will definitely check out your blog.
g